


The Stars Are Still There

by Valkyri (kisikil)



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa Zero
Genre: Danganronpa Student Council, Gen, Sibling Comfort Fic, theyre like 7 in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 12:39:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10101176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kisikil/pseuds/Valkyri
Summary: What if people were like stars?





	

**Author's Note:**

> personalities based on my mutual killing fic....I guess??? they're like 7 so
> 
> another fic I wrote in like 2 hours

"...Kotomi."

It was midday, but the sun was covered by gray, looming clouds. There was a shot of light every so often, but that was the lightning that permeated through the pouring rain. The graveyard had headstones lined for miles...but there was one, right in the middle of it all, where a small girl kneeled before. Her eyes were locked on the headstone, her red hair sodden from the cascade of rain that showed no mercy, its usual vibrance dull and bleak. Besides her were two young boys, holding hands and each with an umbrella. No matter how much the red haired one spoke out to her, however...

"Kotomi, we need to get home. You'll get sick."

...she didn't respond. She just kept kneeling before the headstone, staring, as though one glance away would cause it to disappear.

The red haired boy pulled away from the younger one, kneeling down next to and holding his umbrella over his little sister, who seemed lost in the world. Soon, his usual, spiked hair reminiscent of a small fire started to fall to his cheeks. But, the rain stopped its crusade against his sister - she started shivering.

"Kotomi. Please."

Suddenly, he was saved from the rain's fury, too. He looked up to see the other boy holding his own umbrella over him, keeping him dry. But, the rain pounded on the younger boy instead, and the two jackets he normally wore couldn't keep him from being absolutely drenched. The red haired boy smiled.

"Ryouta... Don't worry about it."

Ryouta didn't say anything, though. His expression was blank as usual... The boy pursed his lips.

"Sousuke..."

Suddenly, Kotomi finally spoke up. Sousuke whipped his head to his sister. She was staring at him, her eyes dry but her expression limp.

"Do you want to go home, Kotomi?" he asked her. She just nodded. Sousuke shoved his umbrella into Ryouta's hands - causing the boy to juggle awkwardly between the two - and stood up. He helped his sister onto her feet, then carried her on his back... He didn't want her to exert more energy these days than usual, than needed. He took back his umbrella with one hand and grabbed Ryouta's hand with the other. Kotomi had to hold on tight so she wouldn't fall, and juggling between these three things with only two hands was hard, but...

They've been through harder.

\---

Kotomi was usually very assertive and fierce. She never took no for an answer, and if she had even the slightest clue one of her brothers - though Ryouta wasn't blood related, he was treated as such - was in trouble with some low-life bully in school, she took it upon herself to make that bully wet his pants and cry to his mommy. Since mom and dad worked so often, she sometimes stepped up as the role of caretaker despite being so young. Her and her brothers were inseparable and fiery - it was never a dull moment with those three.

She also adored her grandfather, who had many stories to tell about his travels and times at war. He would come over for the weekends, and Kotomi would spend hours just listening to his fantastical stories that seemed ripped straight from a fictional novel - but, these were real. It was the only time Kotomi ever gave much attention to anything. It was intriguing to her that so many wonderful things could happen to one human being... Her father visited country after country, meeting people ranging from natives who lived off the natural land to royalty who dipped their fingers in a bowl of water before supper, for some reason. Even war, which he irritated to be horrible and tragic, captured little Kotomi Ikuta's heart; the nature of it seemed so terrible, it was a wonder why any human took part of it, much less tolerated its existence. His stories were so magical, so ludicrous... Her life seemed so mundane - a cramped apartment shared with her small family and, most of the time, Ryouta, going to a mundane school where hardly any kid cared to speak to her... She wanted a life like her grandfather: to travel to mysterious places and meet uncanny people.

And her grandfather promised to take her on these adventures. He said, though he was old and frail, he still had some juice left in him, and, one day, the two of them would travel the world and they would see the things he's seen and meet the people he's met. Kotomi loved the idea, and she loved her grandfather more.

Then, one day, out of the blue, he had a heart attack. The next day, he passed away.

Two weeks after, Kotomi would still be grieving. She would sleep in late, missing most days of school, letting her already low grades slip even further. When she wasn't in bed, she was at his grave, staring at his headstone for hours. It was like she were waiting for him to rise from his coffin and whisk her away in the many adventures he had promised her.

She would never go on those adventures. Even if she did, it wouldn't be the same. Kotomi didn't want to go on those adventures anymore.

Her parents were worried, yes... But, there were bills to pay, and they needed to take every paying hour they could get. The Ikuta's weren't the richest in the neighborhood - in fact, you could even say they were the poorest. They struggled day by day to survive, to maintain themselves financially... So, even if her parents wanted to help, they couldn't.

That job was left on Sousuke, who felt like he was failing his sister. She seemed to be descending into her grief, unable to dig out of the trench that was bellowing deeper and deeper, and no matter what her brother did, it didn't seem to be helping. He took up her chores, going the extra mile to make her nice meals, tidy her room, pick out her clothes and do her hair, drag her out of bed, support her at the graveyard, even do her homework to ensure she didn't fail... But, none of it seemed to help. His sister only plunged deeper into herself, no longer able to talk outside saying his name. She didn't even call for her parents anymore, or even Ryouta, who she used to dote on like a mother herself... Just Sousuke. And even that was starting to fade.

But, one night, while reading his science text about space and the stars, Sousuke had an idea. He dragged his sister out of bed while their parents were asleep, while the entirety of Japan was asleep, in the late hours when children like them shouldn't be wandering and awake. He took her outside the apartment and down the stairs. They stopped at the sidewalk, a small outside light illuminating where they were. But, despite that, a star still shone brightly in the night sky. A lone star.

"Do you see that, Kotomi?" Sousuke asked her, his voice low but soothing. Kotomi just nodded. He let go of her hand and took a few steps towards it. "It's awfully bright, isn't it? Even with all these lights on outside."

"Why are we out here, Sousuke...?" she muttered, her voice hoarse and raspy. "It's cold..."

"To see the star," Sousuke told her.

"We can see the star any day..."

"But, I wanted to tell you something about it!" Sousuke exclaimed, pointing at it. "I read it in my textbook. Did you know that star is so far away that it's actually a million years ahead of us? It's so far away, what we're seeing is it in the past!"

"That's stupid..." Kotomi grumbled.

"It's not! It's in my textbook, so it has to be true!" Sousuke argued. "In fact, that star is so far away, it's dead right now. It died a long time ago."

Kotomi didn't say anything to that.

"It died a long time ago.... But, yet, we can still see it, right? Isn't that funny? It's still here with us now, so we can have a talk like this tonight."

Silence.

"Don't you...think Grandpa is like that too? He's like that star - he may be gone, but he's still here with us now, supporting us. Sure, we may not be able to see him, but..." Sousuke pointed at a black part of the night sky. "There's probably a star being born right there, but it's so far away, we can't see it. But, that doesn't mean it isn't there, right? It's watching over us, just like Grandpa!"

Sousuke turned to his sister only to find her eyes watery, tears streaming down her cheeks as she choked back sobs. He panicked. You really messed up now, Sousuke!

"K-Kotomi!" he yelled, his voice shaky. "I didn't want you to cry! I- I- I just wanted-"

His sister suddenly tackled him with a hug, sobbing into his shoulder. She shook like a leaf in a raging windstorm in his arms.

"I miss Grandpa... I miss Grandpa!" was all she kept yelling between her cries. Sousuke didn't know how to feel about this - did he upset Kotomi beyond repair? Did he make things worse, and now he really was going to lose his sister within her own grief? But, then, he realized something:

Before, she never admitted how she felt about their grandfather's death. It was apparent how she felt, yes, but she never talked about it. Never said a word. She would just stare off into space, forgetting the world around her, ignoring the people who reached out to her. But, she never said anything about it.

And now she was.

"I miss Grandpa! I want to hug him again! I want to tell him I broke his favorite mug, not you! I want to hear another story about Europe, and the Middle East, and South America! I want to tell him I love him again! I want my Grandpa!"

She just kept sobbing and shivering, naming all the things she wanted to do with their grandfather again. It seemed endless, the list - and, all the while, she always came back to the same statement... She missed her Grandpa. Sousuke just held his little sister, wordless, as she weeped, his shoulder soaked with her tears... He held her still, even when she fell to her knees, unable to stand from the weight of her sorrow.

Eventually, though, her tears turned into coos as she eventually fell asleep, right there, tears still wet on her cheeks, holding onto her brother as though he were going to float away, just as their grandfather did. Sousuke scooped her up and took her back to bed.

\---

Around four in the morning, Sousuke woke up, feeling as though something were watching him. And something was - it was Kotomi looming over him, her eyes still red and puffy from before, cradling her stuffed dog Ryouta gave her for her birthday. Sousuke screeched.

"K-Kotomi, go back to bed!" he softly yelled, fearful of waking up their parents. "Do you know what time it is?"

Kotomi completely ignored what he said, however. Instead, she asked, "Do you really think Grandpa's watching over us?"

The question caught Sousuke off guard. He didn't respond right away, trying to gather his thoughts and wake up from a few hours rest. Then, he smiled at her. "Of course," he responded. "Do you really think Grandpa would just leave us like that?"

Kotomi scrunched up her face, appearing as though she were to burst into tears again. Sousuke started to panic until his sister fell on top of him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. Sousuke could hardly breathe.

"I love you, Sousuke," she said. "Please don't die."

Sousuke blinked a few times, taken aback by what she said. It was so rare for her to tell anyone she loved them, to express such genuine emotion like that. He eventually, though, hugged his sister back, squeezing her with all his might. It turned into a hug battle - who could suffocate the other more with love.

"I'm never gonna die, Kotomi," Sousuke assured her. "Even if I did, I'd still watch over you, just like Grandpa."

Kotomi punched him in the stomach. Sousuke coughed.

"B-But I won't!"

**Author's Note:**

> "Stop writing fics about Sousuke," you say. I spit in your face as I continue to write fics about Sousuke.


End file.
